?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) BIÈRES DE LA MEUSE. 1897. 59 1/2x39 1/4 inches, 151x99 3/4 cm. F. Champenois, Paris. Condition B+ / B: repaired tears, replaced losses and minor restoration in margins and along vertical and horizontal folds; extensive staining in right margin. Mounted to board. Framed. This is one of Mucha's most well-renowned images. The central figure is a young daydreamer whose hair is adorned with the hops, barley and malt, which together brew the foamy stein of beer that her hand is absentmindedly caressing. Hair flows around her body as freely as the beer flows over the stein, her curls embodying Mucha's trademark style. The image is an impeccable melding of art and commerce in which Mucha's promotion for a French brewer's association becomes a gentle, yet compelling Art Nouveau masterpiece. The allegory of the Meuse River, depicted in monochrome at the bottom, appears in several other posters from this era, and was an established trademark of this organization. Considered a classec even in its own time, this poster was so revered that in 1899, in an amusing supplement to the Maîtres de l'Affiche, Adolphe Willette designed an image of a young girl on a country road, kneeling down and praying before this poster, mistaking the beautiful maiden for a saint. This is the large version. Lendl p. 93, Brno 31, Rennert / Weill 27, Darmstadt 54, Mucha Grand Palais A.19, Mucha / Henderson 68, Mucha / Bridges p. 71, Triumph des Jugendstils 25, Spirit of Art Nouveau 23, DFP-II 633, Abdy p. 147, Litfass 122, Drink 32.
